Enterprise fallen
by N8NBot
Summary: On a routine sweep of a sector far from Federation controlled space, the Enterprise-D finds a horrifying discovery with galactic consequences.
1. Chapter 1

_Captain's log, stardate 46154.2. The USS Enterprise has entered a previously unknown region of space, its mission, to chart this region for any scientific curiosities. This is the farthest from federation space we have been to, and all hands are uneasy due to the innate silence of this kind of deep space. I have the utmost confidence in my crew however, and believe that they will perform admirably._

Captain Picard sat back at his desk in the ready room, and studied the map of the sector the Enterprise had been sent to scan. The constant hum of the ship was the only sound in the room, with the smell of a freshly brewed Earl Gray tea slowly filling the cabin. Taking a sip of the hot tea, he studied the small map that had been made from the preliminary scans of the system. "Fascinating." He said sarcastically to himself, as the system they were in was entirely uninteresting. Three class D planets, essentially balls of dust and radiation from the star, and one class Y planet. The star itself, while as majestic as any other star, was a simple blue dwarf star. Leaning back into the chair, he swiveled to look at the fish tank in the corner of the room, and watched the fish swim lazily in the small container. "I sometimes feel as if I understand the way you feel" Picard told the fish, standing up. "trapped in a container, even if I captain it I can never leave. And always another problem to solve, another crises to prevent." He gazed into the depths of the tank before leaving the room to rejoin the crew on the bridge. "I can only hope that this mission won't have any of that, everyone could use a break from defying death." As the door closed, the hum of the ship was once again the only sound in the room.

"Ensign, can you hand me the gravitic caliper? This plasma regulator is giving me a bit more trouble then I expected." Geordi's voice echoed through the Jefferies tube, to a waiting ensign with a tool kit. Geordi was reaching his hand out to grab the offered tool when the ship suddenly shifted, smacking his head against a support strut and nearly knocking him unconscious. "You okay down there Lieutenant?" The ensigns voice carried down to Geordi. "Yeah, probably got a major concussion. Mind lending me a hand real quick? I think I should probably get out, I can't exactly fix this problem like this." The ensign and Geordi grunted with exertion, getting the bruised Lieutenant commander out tube. Geordi's badge almost immediately activated with the telltale chirp, "Geordi, what the hell was that?" Riker's voice shot out. "Well commander I'm not certain. I was doing a repair when we got hit with whatever it was, I have a concussion but otherwise I feel okay. I'm heading to medical, but Data was in Engineering I think." Holding his head, Geordi began moving toward the turbolift.

Lieutenant Commander Data was in fact in Main Engineering when the wave hit, his internal compensators barely given enough time to keep him on his feet. The biological crew-members were not so lucky, most falling in the tremors if not face planting into the walls as the ground became far more mobile than any of them could have expected. He was already scanning the source of the issue when his com-badge chirped on, and Riker's voice came out. "Data, we were just hit by something, Geordi is going to medical. Do you have any idea what hit us hard enough to knock out the ship's stabilizers?" Data looked at the numbers, a scientific rarity was the only conclusion that he could come up with. All the millions of calculations pointed toward only one object with that sort of gravitational wave. "Data to Commander Riker, I believe I have an explanation but it would perhaps be best if I gave it to all of the senior crew. If possible, I believe we should meet in the observation lounge. For now the danger is past."

All the senior officers gathered in the dark lounge, large windows pointing out to the nothing of space and all were almost reminded that they were truly alone out here. No human had ever explored this far, and if they had any problems they would be truly alone, with no star base within a week's worth of warp travel. All the members had recent bruises, with Geordi looking the worse for wear, using an ice pack to help with the pounding headache from his close encounter with a part of the ship. The Security Chief, Worf, tapped his fingers impatiently on the table. His usual Klingon frown now accented in the darkness of the lounge, making it and his ridges all the more pronounced. Across from him, the ship's counselor, Deanna Troi sat with regal grace as always, her face calm and attentive, offering no opinion on current events. To her left sat Commander Riker, his bearded face most used for his trademark smile now bore a frown to rival Worf's, signaling his feelings on how he felt the crew had been in danger. To Worf's left sat the Doctor Beverly Crusher and Head Engineer Geordi. Beverly looked over Geordi, her red hair slightly messy from the amount of work she was now under with a ship full of minor injuries rushing her infirmary. At the head of the table sat Captain Jean-luc Picard, his face mirroring that of his subordinates in concentration. All eyes were focused on the view screen, where Commander Data was standing. "Captain, I believe that we were caught in the gravitational wake of a rogue planet." His mechanical voice was calm, a single tone throughout as if he were commenting on the weather. "Now hold on Data" Geordi's voice called in, "A rogue planet is incredibly rare, the odds of finding one are, well astronomical. How did we not only come across one, but have it not come up on our scanners?" Data turned to look toward the table, his eyes coming to rest on Picard. "I do not know how our scanners did not pick up an object of this scale, but only something of planetary mass would be able to overpower the compensators of the ship, not to mention the size of the wake produced." Captain Picard sat up in his chair, a tell tale sign that he was about to begin speaking. "A rogue planet is an extraordinary discovery Data, very few have been able to be fully studied. Is there any chance we can, catch up to the planet and study it safely without damaging the ship or endangering the crew?" Data looked towards the screen, his eyebrows bunching in what could be interpreted as concentration before once more addressing the captain. "I believe so. We now know the location of the planet, it merely is now just like any other planet in the system. It will leave the system in thirty minutes. With that speed, we will catch up to it in an hour." Captain Picard looked toward his crew and addressed them once more, his voice taking on the authority of a captain. "We have come across something truly special, Prepare to reconvene on the bridge in one hour. Doctor, you may remain in the infirmary. Dismissed."

The planet on the view screen was an enigma. It was uninteresting compared to the planets Ensign Wesley crusher had seen in his time aboard the Enterprise. Serving aboard the ship on an official internship rather than the unofficial field promotion he received before attending Starfleet Academy, he was still unimpressed. Even so, the planet was still intimidating. The size of a large gas giant, it seemed to defy fundamental physics. The gravity was close to Earth's intensity, an impossibility considering the mass of the planet at work. The whole planet was black, with huge mountains and vistas, carved out of stone as black as obsidian. The makeup was like any other rocky planet, but visually it was anything but. Huge storm systems ravaged the land, but with no water there was only lightning and wind. Without any sun, all the water had frozen to the planet, giving the whole planet the feel of a large ball of black ice, with the surface jutting toward the sky as if the planet were in pain. Wesley tried to shake off the fear he felt looking at the planet, but it made him feel cold. Looking toward his console, he began to maneuver the ship. Regardless of his personal feelings, he had a mission to complete. Slowly and laboriously, the Enterprise closed in toward the dark planet.

"Commander Data, what can you tell me about the planet?" Picard's voice cut through the room, the feeling Wesley had felt by everyone on the bridge. "Well Captain, I can't really tell much. The size and composition of the planet cannot be sustainable, along with the strength of the gravity. It is as if the laws of the universe simply do not pertain to this planet." Worf stood upright, straightening his back. "Perhaps, there is someone or something causing the planet to behave this way?" Picard, still looking toward the view screen, turned his head towards Troi, his eyes never leaving the screen. "What do you make of it Councilor? Can you sense anything?" Troi closing her eyes, shook her head. "Not in a traditional sense Captain. I believe I can sense something, but it isn't a life form. It's like nothing I've never felt before." Putting her head in her hands, Picard noticed the change. "Councilor, are you alright? Do I need to call Doctor Crusher?" Troi brought her head up, and shook it giving a small weak smile. "No, that will not be necessary. I just think I need some rest, all the fear from the crew has left me with little headaches. If it is all the same to you, I think I would like to head back to my quarters to relax." Captain Picard nodded his head, turning his attention back to the planet. "Permission granted. If you need assistance, contact Beverly. I'll call if we need more of your expertise." As Troi stood up and walked to the turbolift, all attention was once again placed on the screen toward the impossible dark planet.

"Captain, I believe the scanners have picked up something." Data's voice once again cut through the purveying silence like a knife. "It is a faint signal, but it appears something down there is leaking a vast amount of energy." Picard and Riker looked each other in the eyes, an unspoken conversation passing through them with a single raised eyebrow from Riker. "What kind of energy Data?" Riker asked him, standing up to walk over to Data's console. "Well commander it is a form of electromagnetic energy, it appears that the energy potential is," Data paused, his face once again showing a form of concentration, a sign that he was running through millions of calculations, "Infinite sir." Commander Riker looked over his shoulder towards Picard with a look of undisguised shock. "Data, that's impossible. The law of entropy makes infinite energy an impossibility." The Captain looked on with a face now in his own frown of concentration, Data is very rarely wrong but in this case it simply isn't possible. "I have no solution Captain, that is simply what the scan shows. Whatever is down there is a source of infinite energy, able to sustain entire planets. With multiple of whatever it is, it's possible each planet could have the energy potential to keep the entire galaxy powered forever." Picard stood up slowly, looking toward the planet. The impossible planet, a black sphere of rock and mystery. "Number one," he started slowly, "collect your away team. I want to find out exactly what it is that is able to generate that power."


	2. Chapter 2

Main Engineering was a flood of movement as Geordi stepped back onto the deck. Ensigns moved from panel to panel, looking over the ship's schematics with faces of near panic. "Lieutenant Barkley" Geordi called into the mess, "What's going on in here?" A tall pale man broke away from the mulling crowd of engineers, his face a slight pink from the stress he felt on a near constant basis. "Well s-s-sir, we're not entirely sure. Ever since we stopped above the planet, small malfunctions have been appearing all over the ship sir. Nothing major has broken, but with all these malf-f-functions we don't have the manpower to fix it all." Geordi walked over to a panel lining the wall, feeling the eyes of everyone on the deck. Sighing, he turned to look at the crowd now approaching. "Well, we'll have to take this section by section. Ill tell the captain that the ship will have to hold orbit over the planet for at least half a day, we can't fly the ship without possibly making this worse. Split into your teams, we've trained for this." Turning away from the crowd, he looked toward the panel. All over the ship schematics, red dots were appearing to show the problem locations. Sighing once again, he began to work.

Troi's quarters were lavish, as much as they could be on a starship. Because of her job as ship's councillor, it served a purpose to relax any visitors she got on a moment's notice. All the beauty of the room was lost on her, as she shambled towards her bed. She barely made it onto the turbolift without showing her weakness, and had to hold the wall to reach her quarters. The feeling she had within her head had not lessened, nor had the feeling of dread. She was no stranger to dread, having served during the battle of Wolf 359 against the Borg. But the feeling pounding within her head was far more intense than any feeling she had ever felt before. "Computer," the sound of a loud beep filled the room briefly, signalling the computer was recording her command, "chocolate sundae. Make it a double." Her replicator flashed briefly, matter being recombined into the cold dessert. Stumbling over, she grabbed the sundae and sat it on the table. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement of something dark and cold. She barely had taken a bite before the headache seemed to intensify, cutting out any other sensation. She stood, taking her head into her hands before screaming. She did not hear herself scream, she only heard words yelling against her skull, burning themselves into her mind. " **MAKE US WHOLE"**

The Enterprise stopped in orbit of the planet, it's dark sunless skies and ground blending in with the darkness of the void it flies through. Storm systems moved lazily along the planet, but in one area of the north pole the storms seemed to avoid, always curving around. Had the Enterprise stayed long enough, they may have noticed how the storms curved into perfect circles around the pole, all equidistant of thousands of miles from the center. They may have noticed how the ground was smoother here, making huge plateaus of dark volcanic rock rather than the sharp cliffs of the rest of the planet. They may have noticed how the slow incline to the bottom appeared as though it was a huge tunnel leading farther than possible, the lightless nature of the planet exaggerating the bowl. Because of these factors, and the signal emanating from the center, made it the perfect place to shuttle down, completely unhindered onto the impossible planet.

In a small ready room, doubled as a small armory four crewmen gathered. The room was well lit, along the wall were lockers, holding phasers, EV suits, rebreathers, everything an away team would need. At the center a basic metal table and chairs, with a computer panel on the wall adjacent to be used to brief any team. Standing next to the screen stood Commander Riker, hands behinds his back as he waited patiently for the rest of the team to seat themselves. Looking at the mission, he chose three crewmembers that he felt would be best suited. On the left side of the table, sat Lieutenant Adams, the resident hazardous environmental specialist. His hair a light blond, the short stocky crewmember looked at his suit, working out any kinks and preparing it for wear. His face was a rugged kind of handsome, with a carved face sporting a small stubble. His body was comprised of muscle, giving him the appearance of a small klingon, albeit human and without the ridges. Serving Starfleet for half a decade, his experience included over a dozen rescues of science crews from class D and Y planets, and was the most experienced in an EV suit out of anyone on the Enterprise. Next to him sat Ensign Sherbourne, a member of engineering who specialized in electromagnetic power. Her hair a shade of ebony, a contrast to her alabaster skin from too much time in the science lab and not enough under the Uv lamps, her slim body a telltale sign as a scientist and engineer. Her face was homely, round and innocent, having its own kind of beauty. Her dissertation at the academy on the effects of electricity on subspace and the possible improvements of efficiency quickly became thought of as a masterpiece among the scientific and engineering community, securing her spot on the flagship of the Federation. Across from both of them sat security personnel Jeremy Aster, a grizzled ex marine who fought in the war against the Cardassians. An older veteran, he still sported the haircut of a soldier, the scars on his face showing the stories of war. His tanned skin carefully maintained, almost religiously as it had been on the planet he was deployed onto to defend on the frontlines. Considering the feeling that Troi received from the planet, Riker felt it necessary to bring someone with some combat experience along in case something was managing to live on the planet. After all the away team sat down, Riker stood straighter and began to speak. "As you know, we have been put into orbit of a rogue planet. From the lack of a system, along with the apparent nature of the planet and its density, we have named it Aegis VII. We based this off of the star system we were surveying had three planets and three major moons, even though it will never be seen by that system again." He paused briefly, seeing the eyes of the ex marine glaze over slightly. "That is not the reason I have brought this particular team together. Normally I would bring Data or Geordi on this mission, but considering the malfunctions the ship has been faced with, both felt they were needed on the ship. This team has been collected because of its skills, both in the environment," he paused again, nodding toward Adams, "and in our mission objective." Pressing a few buttons on the table to control the screen, he brought up a schematic of the planet. Sherbourne sat forward, her face morphing into one of pure awe as she slowly understood what she was looking at, the other two slowly following suit. "As you can see," Riker began, seeing these reactions, "something on the planet is generating a large quantity of power. Data believes whatever it is can put out a limitless amount of energy, something that wasn't even thought possible." Looking back at the screen, he continued. "Counselor Troi believes that she may have felt something down there, but nothing like she had ever felt before. It isn't an organism, but whatever it is we cannot believe that whatever is generating the power is natural. We are going in blind, we don't know if something alive is down there." Looking once more back at the group, all with a sparkle in their eyes, he asked, "Any questions?"

Troi curled into a ball in the floor to her room, tears flowing down her now motionless cheeks. The words rung in her skull, but began to quiet. The headache lessened, and the voices retreated. Movement on the edge of her vision stilled, and she stood shakily to her feet. Closing her eyes, looking toward the ceiling she took a deep breath, and smiled. Whatever was down there was strong, stronger than anything the galaxy had seen. Somewhere deep in her mind a voice called out, a small kernel of the light that was Deanna Troi calling into the maelstrom her mind had become. Whatever was down on the planet wanted nothing more than to unify with all living creatures, and ascend them to the next plane of existence. She exhaled, and walked to the window. Using her senses, she felt around the ship, and found the mind of William Riker. She felt him for a moment, before he was gone, beamed to the planet's surface. She looked out at that dark world and smiled again. She felt it, she felt that the Enterprise had discovered something wonderful. It had discovered God.


	3. Chapter 3

To the outsider's perspective, Commander Riker and the rest of the away team stepped on the raised platform, authorized the beam and froze in place for a second as their molecules were taken apart piece by piece. To Riker, that time was the difference between breaths. Unlike most away missions, due to the planet's frozen and hostile nature the away team wore large cumbersome EV suits. These suits, meant to handle any extreme environment, were not unlike hazmat suits of the 21st century, with the outside of the suits utilizing a form of silicone and metal to create a shield able to withstand all the radiation a sun can put off. "All team, sound off." Riker said, his voice sounding muted to himself as the sound bounced of the plastic viewpiece inches from his face. "Jeremy Aster, sounding off." A gruff voice came from the speaker at the back of the helmet, the marine clearly annoyed at the situation he was now in. "Ensign Sherbourne, all good." A shaky female voice was next. It wasn't surprising, the intimidation the planet held from above was nothing like what it felt to actually stand on the planet. Even surrounded by the highest tech suit the Federation had to offer, he felt as if he was still just in his Starfleet uniform. The winds seemed to cut right through the suit even as it was impossible for outside currents to penetrate it. "Lieutenant Adams, present." Another male voice rang through his helmet, the usual joviality gone from the lieutenant. Even with all his experience, nothing could have prepared him or any of them for what they now saw. A crater spread out in front of them, storms thousands of miles long swirled above, and the wind picked up the dust, making it seem as if there was movement on the edges of their visions. The wind was deafening, a shrill whistle even through the reinforced helmet. Because of the rocky terrain, Riker couldn't shake off how the voices sounded eerily like whispers, just out of hearing range.

The dread grew for the away team as they descended into the crater, following the commander's tricorder towards whatever it was that could generate the energy they had detected on the Enterprise. The darkness of the planet, with the only natural light coming from the sun whose system the planet had left close to half an Earth day ago, but it never touching the ground gave the team an eery feeling. The only light on the ground was from the high powered torches the team had, stretching every shadow into long fingers of darkness, reaching from further within the abyss. Making there way down a seemingly endless pit, they finally reached the bottom plateau. The ground was oddly flat compared to the treacherous climb they had just partaken. The wind had died down so far from the surface, the lightless sun still above in the sky, only seen enough to be seen like the Earth's moon so many light years away. In this suffocating darkness, the lights from the Enterprise could even be seen, so small compared to the monstrosity of the planet. Riker heard the speaker bark a little as it activated. "Just how big is this crater?" he heard Ensign Sherbourne speak in awe, as the entirety of it was now seen by the away team. What had merely been thought of as a large crater was in fact, the opening to a truly massive cavern system, large enough to possibly house an entire fleet's worth of starships. "However large it is" Riker heard Adam's start to speak, "our unknown power source is somewhere inside." Riker turned, forced to turn his whole body in order to face the rest of the team. Their illuminated faces pale, from the light and the shock of how truly insignificant they were compared to the might of this world. "The signal isn't too far in, maybe three hundred meters tops." He turned back around. "Let's find out what's down here."

Captain Picard sat back in his chair in his ready room, once again studying his screen intently. This time, there was no feigned interest, but full fledged fascination. This planet still puzzled him, and he mused on what Data had said to him on the way back to the bridge. "Captain," the android had started, after pulling him aside. "The odds of finding a rogue planet are 1 in 73 billion. Not only this, but to have an infinite energy source," he cocked his head to the side, and raised his eyebrows, "we can only assume that its discovery was intentional." That was all he said before moving past the captain to assume his duties. Picard mulled over these words again. "Could it be you again Q? Are you testing humanity again?" he mumbled under his breath. It was then that the room chirped, and Riker's voice could be heard. "Captain," he started. His voice quavered a little, something that happened only very rarely. "I think we found it."

The object was large, at least four meters in height. The artifact was a deep black, as if mined from pure obsidian, with ridges marking itself all the way up to the top. It shaped like a double helix, starting thick at the bottom wrapping around and thinning before splitting at the top, giving it two distinct points. Engraved in the obelisk were symbols that appeared organic rather than created by a machine, rounded edges and seemingly random patterns. Even in the relative silence of the main cargo bay, it seemed to hum slightly louder than the rest of the Enterprise. "Do you have any idea what it could be Ensign?" Captain Picard said, slightly turning his head to the left to speak to Ensign Sherbourne. His eyes never left the obelisk. "No idea captain" She said, shaking her head, "but whatever it is it marks the next step in electromagnetic power for the galaxy." Turning to face her fully, Picard asked "Do we have a name for it yet?" Sherbourne shook her head again. "No captain, but I do have one idea." She turned to the captain, a gleam in her eyes. "I do like a good pun, and considering the importance of this discovery, I call it the Marker."

Riker stood alone in the crew ready room, his head spinning and his skin crawling. Ever since he got back from the planet he hasn't felt right, constantly itching and with a headache to boot. After hearing that wind for so long, he swore he could still hear it, those whispers constantly on the edge of his hearing. Shaking his head, he closed his locker before turning around and nearly walking into Jeremy. "Woah there commander," the Ex-marine said stepping back. "Just trying to get to my locker." Riker looked in his eyes, and saw the slight tremble in the pupils, the micromovements his eyes made as if he were a frightened animal. Riker noticed all this because he saw it in the mirror, ever since they got back from that world. "You feel it too." It wasn't a question Riker asked, but a statement. He saw the marine tense, before relaxing slightly. "You mean this infernal headache, and still hearing the wind as if we were still on that damned rock? Yeah I feel it." The marine suddenly seemed tired. "I've felt something like this before. After serving on the front lines for so long, losing so many of your comrades, you can still hear the weapons and the screams even as you sleep." He finished putting his gear in his locker before turning around. "I'm going to go see the Doctor, get some sleeping medicine. That stuff will knock you right out, won't even have the nightmares." The door closed behind him, and Riker turned back around. Despite what he had said, he doubted he would get much sleep tonight.

It had been two hours since The Marker had been brought on board, and Geordi was still working on the technical problems that seemed to plague the ship. He now stood in the main engine room, on the second floor trying to fix a fused circuit in the engine computers mainframe. "Hey Barkley," he called down to the bottom floor, catching the attention of the slender engineer. "Mind throwing me a spare power coupler? This entire system may need to be replaced." The Lieutenant nodded, before his face became one of concern. "But sir, what are we going to have to tell the captain?" Geordi shrugged, and let out a small exhale. "I don't know. But with all these malfunctions I really don't feel comfortable moving around this far out in deep space. The last thing we need is for something to be broken and for us to become stranded." He walked over to the ladder and begun to climb down, continuing speaking. "The crew is already tense. Ever since we left civilized space the feeling even in ten-forward has been one of fear. Everyone's afraid under the surface. We can't have a breakdown now." Barkley opened his mouth to say something, when Geordi's combadge chirped on. "Chief, this is Sherbourne. You got a second?" Geordi sighed again, something he had fallen into the habit of recently. "This is Geordi. What do you need Ensign?" The badge chirped again. "Can you come to the main cargo bay? I've been studying The Marker, but i'm starting to feel a bit ill. I have a bad headache, I was wondering if you could come take a look at the thing while I make a quick stop to the infirmary." Geordi began to head towards the door, giving Barkley a look, or as much as he could wearing the visor, to fix the engine problem. If he was honest, he was dying to get a look at the mysterious artifact himself. "Of course." He replied to the badge. "I'm on my way."

The captain was sitting in his chair on the bridge when his badge toned again, twice in as many hours. "Captain this is Beverly." A voice came through, feminine and carried a slight air of panic. "Captain whatever it is you brought on the ship, I think it's affecting the crew." Picard's face began to frown, this was most certainly unwelcome news from the doctor. "What do you mean Beverly? It's already been scanned and probed. Nothing about it is psychological in nature, I even had Councillor Troi scan it for good measure." He could almost imagine the doctor as she took a deep breath, her shoulders raising and her head shaking slightly. "Well I think it's affecting them somehow. I've had a three hundred percent increase in headaches, and some of the crew are even behaving," she paused for a moment. "Violently." Picard sat forward, before coming to his feet, his frown deepening. "What do you mean Beverly? Are the crewmembers attacking each other?" He could hear her sigh. "I think so. I have a few with concussions, one with a black eye, and one with some broken ribs. I called Troi, all she said was that she'll look into it. Security has been unhelpful, and the patients are complaining about a headache. Some of these wounds even look self inflicted Jean-luc. I don't know how to handle this." Picard turned around and started to head toward the turbolift. "I'm on my way. If my crew are getting into fights among themselves I need to know about it."

Geordi stepped off the turbolift onto the main cargo bay, and began to walk towards the center of the room where the marker was set. Standing at the door was Councillor Troi, a surprising sight to him. "Councillor?" he asked, watching as she turned around to face him. "What are you doing down here?" She smiled, a smile filled with joy that he rarely sees unless she's around Riker and thinks no one will notice. "I had to see it Geordi, I had to see its wondrous design." He creased his brow, showing evident confusion. "Wondrous design? I mean I understand the appeal of limitless energy but I don't understand why that would truly fascinate you beyond curiosity." She beamed that smile again, unsettling Geordi in how misplaced in the situation it was. "It's not everyday you discover a God." Geordi took a step back, confused and unnerved by this sudden change in the Councillor, before he began to step around her to go into the part of the bay that held The Marker. "Okay Councillor, whatever you say. Maybe take some rest, all the crew's emotions have to be running pretty hot right now. You might be confused." Turning back around, his visor caught the full view of The Marker. Searing pain went through Geordi's head, his visor seeing all the electromagnetic waves in an instant, the atomic structure of the obelisk, everything. For that moment Geordi felt as if he were seeing with his eyes instead of through his visor, before everything went black and he fell to the floor comatose. The last thing he thought was of Troi's smile, and the religious fervor in her eyes as she called it God.


	4. Chapter 4

"Number one? Geordi?" Picard stood in the center of the bridge, his voice filled with the authority he used when the ship was placed in peril. The normally well lit bridge now a dark red as the hazard lights were the only source of illumination, the shadows cast eerily as everyone's skin now held a reddish color. "Can anyone on the ship read me?" Only silence met his ears, all eyes in the room on me. "Data, can you explain the reason for this?" The android sitting at the helm turned around with a frown. "I cannot captain. I hypothesise however that it may have been the result of the malfunctions Geordi was working on." Picard rubbed his head, suddenly appearing very tired. "Data we cannot have these problems now. Without any starbase knowing we are with a rogue planet-" "We will fly through the galaxy, the likelihood of discovery is extraordinarily low." Data finished, his mechanical voice showing no emotion, even as his words strengthened the tension in the room to a breaking point. Before the captain could even open up his mouth to speak, the turbolift door shook. The sound of something heavy pushing against the doors, slowly and steadily opening. The crew acted immediately, all four members standing and releasing their phasers, pointing at the opening doors, pried apart from the inside. Fingers could be seen, red in the glow of the room giving the impression of a demon attempting to get into the room. "Jean-Luc?" A weak voice called out from the lift, as Picard's eyebrows raised in surprise. Turning rapidly, he looked at Data now relaxing his phaser. "Lieutenant, get that door open. Beverly is in there!"

Doctor crusher was covered in sweat, her uniform clung to her body as she took deep breaths. "What on Earth were you doing in there Beverly? Shouldn't you have been in the infirmary?" Captain Picard looked down at the woman, who had somehow managed to pry open the doors to the turbolift enough for them to be able to hear her. "I," she gasped, before standing up. "I was on my way to show you some readings I got from the crewmembers captain. Nearly all the crewmembers working on the lower decks have severe dementia. I don't know how I didn't realize it before, but it appears those closest to The Marker appear to have been affected severely." Picard turned around. He brought his hand up to cup his chin, as he looked at the empty wall that was the viewscreen. "Why would you have dropped everything to tell me in person? Surely this could have been over the com-link." Beverly put her hand on his shoulder, turning him around. "Perhaps. But just before I found out, Geordi was brought in to the infirmary. I don't know what happened to him, but he's completely comatose. I would have called you immediately, but behind the medics in the hallway stood Troi." Her face paled a little, giving her a ghastly complexion in the strobing red lights of the room. "I don't know what happened to her Jean-Luc. But she's changed. I saw her smile, I think she's been affected too. I didn't want her to hear what has been happening to the rest of the crew." She took her hand off Picard's shoulder suddenly, her face becoming one of panic, looking around the room. "Picard," she began shakily, "where's my son?"

Wesley Crusher didn't know where he was at first. When The Marker came aboard, the crew and civilians all flocked to see the mysterious artifact before they were dispersed by security for causing a hazard. But that was the last thing he really remembered, all he knew was that he was surrounded by machinery and had a headache he never felt before. Leaning against a pipe, he read the inscription, _Antimatter Generator. Do not touch._ Blinking slowly, he realized where he had ended up. Deep at the bottom of the Enterprise was a maze of maintenance shafts, ways to get to the engines to do repairs should direct intervention be needed. It was the lowest part of the ship one could get to, and Wesley couldn't remember how he got there. " _Wesley_ " a whisper crawled, just in his range of hearing. He turned around slowly, as the stench of blood and bile reached his nose. " _Wesley_ " the voice called again, closer this time. Turning around he saw what he knew was impossible, something that could not exist. Standing in front of him stood his father, clad in the uniform he was buried in years ago. " _Im proud of you Wesley_ " The apparition said, his eyes glowing a faint white. As Wesley watched, his skin turned gray, the pallor of a corpse. His mouth became cracked, but his eyes, filled with white light intensified. " _We need to be whole Wes. Make us whole._ " The ghost took a step forward, and Wesley felt his headache intensify. "Y-You can't be real," He said, stepping back, "You died." in the darkness of those tunnels, far from anywhere a human should be, he turned around. " **THEY WANT OUR FLESH"** Cried a man directly in front of him, the front of his uniform covered in blood and vomit, the true cause of the smell now filling the hallway. His eyes were bloodshot and crazed, his left arm a mess of pulped muscle, received from punching something repeatedly, it oozed a dark blue blood of one of the civilian aliens, bone and tooth sticking out of the shattered fist. His uniform was faded and ripped, covered in cuts and bruises. His hair was unkempt and his beard looked like it had been ripped in several places. Standing in front of Wesley was Commander William Riker, leader of the away team that had discovered The Marker. " **THEY NEED OUR FLESH"** He yelled again, his breath carrying the stench of carrion. " **BUT THIS FLESH IS MINE"** He yelled, raising his right hand. It was then Wesley noticed the chunk of metal, looking as if it were a pipe merely torn off with his bare hands. " **THEY WANT OUR BLOOD AND OUR BONE"** He screamed, his eyes shaking as he brought the metal to his neck. He turned and ran when Riker cut through his neck, spilling a torrent of blood to the floor. He ran, and could faintly hear the sound of something flapping, eerily similar to the sound a bat makes when flying through the air.

Orbiting a rogue planet, light years away from any living being, sat the starship Enterprise. Its once proud hull now dark, the blinking lights indicating distress now going out one by one. Its cooling engines, now being starved of power, began to shut down. Only because of the speed it had before was it remaining in orbit, but it was only a matter of time before it was overtaken by gravity and fell into the planet. As the last of the lights went out, the last traces of the Federation disappeared from the void. The ship looked as dead as the space around it.

Nurse Ogawa had her hands full, with the Doctor having left to go to the bridge, she was the senior doctor in the infirmary. Ever since the panic lights turned on, all the dementia patients had been panicking, some falling into violence while others simply screamed. Those sporting minor injuries were conscripted to help if they could, but the matter was solved once the lights went out completely. Left in the dark room, the first thing Ogawa noticed was that the patients were silent. "Anyone near to it, get a few flashlights from the resource locker please." She heard the sound as people felt around trying to find the locker. She heard a new noise too, the sound of flapping before something loud slumped onto a bed. All the crewman jumped, but the patients merely stayed silent, before one whisper came through the darkness. It was a forceful whisper, as if something heavy were saying it. " **They want our flesh."** The next sound she heard was that of a medical drill crunching through flesh and bone, and the whisperings of all the patients. It was the turn of the sane crewmembers to scream, hearing the sound of someone being stabbed, brutally multiple times with the whispers of the insane seemingly all around them. A loud crash came from a corner, the sound of medical supplies falling before a light turned on, and screams once again filled the room. Sitting on top the patient closest to the door was a pale, hairless creature. It appeared to be the torso and head of a human being, its hands making out the end of its "Wings". Calling them wings was the closest approximation possible, as it was skin fused to the torso and arms. On closer examination, the back of the wings was the legs, making it appear as if the human was bent and broken down to half their size. The head of the creature was a nightmare of tendrils, and one long proboscis. The once human crewmembers jaw had been mutilated and crushed against the body, the head twisted to create the proboscis now sticking into the patient's skull. Its spine was very visible, twisted and bent to create an arch but the skin above it was stretched so every bone could be clearly seen. The long Proboscis drew back, and the creature flapped its body, taking flight and flying into the lightless corridor beyond the door. The body remained moving however, falling onto the floor spasming even beyond rigor mortis. The male's body twisted, bones and tendons snapping audibly. Blood, already everywhere from the creature's attack now pooling below the body, and pouring from every orifice. His chest heaved, and cracked open releasing a noxious smell of feces and gore. The crew simply watched as a second pair of arms pushed through the now gaping hole, dropping the intestines on the floor around him. Ogawa turned around to puke, and fled into the Doctor's office before locking the door. All the other crewmembers began to pound on the door as the body began to rise, losing its hair, eyes turning dull. His spine cracked and broke, becoming hunchback. His arms rose till they were closer to the shoulders, large spines of bone piercing through the palms. His legs twisted, his feet now facing inward as he lurched unbalanced in the direction of the terrified crew as the last rags of clothing fell off his body, now sexless. He rushed toward the crew, and all Ogawa could hear for a few moments were the screams followed by silence. The sound that terrified her the most was the sound of flapping a few minutes later.


	5. Chapter 5

The bridge was silent. Nothing seemed to be moving inside the inky blackness of its interior, a black so suffocating it was easier to imagine being deep underground rather far above any planet. The silence was maddening, four humans and a machine completely caught off guard by the sudden power failure mere minutes before. The fear for young Wesley crusher was immediately forgotten as the repercussions that this power failure meant for the ship. Even Data felt it, deep within his code as the calculations whirred. There was now a 99.333 repeating certainty that they would die on this ship. They stood in shocked silence for what felt like an eternity, minutes passing as they each were embroiled in their own personal hell of reality. It was an ensign, who made the first move. On a completely standalone battery power source, lights could be made from the two helm seats on the bridge. It remains one of the few battery operated pieces of equipment on the ship, the only other ones being handhelds and one remaining emergency light option. With the lights on, the corridors and rooms would be eliminated by strips on the bottom of the wall, casting a truly eerie light as it illuminated everything from the bottom, casting the ceiling in shadow. The lights on the bridge only lit up from the screens next to the main viewscreen backwards, giving the room the feel of an interrogation lab. Even then the lights were weak, straining after so much disuse. All four other crewmembers looked to this ensign, with faces of surprise showing on their faces. "What?" the ensign said, face equally in surprise of the reactions. "We all looked at the memo's in case of ship wide shutdown right?" The looks of shock quickly were replaced with sheepish ones, evidently they had not. "Not even you Data?" The commander quickly looked away and at a wall. "It seemed, unnecessary." The ensign chuckled. "I expect a promotion from this act alone. Now we won't need to use our tricor-" his last words were cut off, as was the top half of his head in a spray of gore. Shearing through the ceiling was a long, pale blade jutting out of the palm of what appeared to be a rotting decayed arm. The body dropped to the floor, a hole now directly in the top, and and the doctor screamed. The other ensign vomited on the floor nearly immediately, the fear of death and the sudden vicious death of her friend only intensifying the now suffocating smell of death and rot that now pervaded the room. Even Picard stepped back in shock, never before witnessing a death as violent and quickly as this in all his years of Starfleet. Only Data acted, pulling out his phaser and shooting the arm, but instead of vaporizing it like any other biological organism it merely cut right through the decayed meat into the ship behind it. A shriek, louder than any living thing could ever make reverberated through the now cramped bridge, as another blade cut through the ceiling, dropping it and releasing the disgusting creature hiding within the vent. It shambled weakly to its feet, a disgusting mockery of its previous human visage. "Nurse McClukidge?" Beverly said, weakly. The monster stood fully upright, its jaw hanging loosely. A snarl erupted from its degenerated chest as it lunged towards the vomiting ensign, swinging its arm wide and slicing the front part of her face off. Her brain dropped to the floor, her body followed moments later. Another phaser beam struck its weakened arm, the sinew and muscle giving out, followed by more blood than should anatomically be in one part of the body. The previous nurse screamed in what could be pain before whipping around and targeting the android. It lept through the air but was intercepted as three beams collided with its chest, disgorging a large quantity of blood, and it landed to the floor, writhing before becoming still once more.

"It certainly appears to be Nurse McClukidge." Intoned Data, his emotionless voice somewhat anticlimactic as they stood over the broken body of the former monster. "But what could even do this to a person?" Picard said, his body shaking slightly as adrenaline still pumped through his veins. "I don't know to be honest," Doctor Crusher said, her voice becoming the detached professional she needed to be in times of stress. She kneeled down, and pulled out her personal tricorder. "These readings show she's been dead for at least thirty minutes." Picard took a look at Data, his face eyebrows raising in surprise. "We were in the dark for that long?" Data's face cocked to the side before nodding. "My internal clock says yes captain. We were lost in thought for twenty five minutes. I was doing calculations." His face turns to one of confusion. "How did you not notice?" Doctor Crusher quickly interjected. "I think it has to do with The Marker." She hypothesized aloud. "It appears to have more effects then what we have seen thus far." Pressing buttons on her tricorder, she finally stood up. "It appears the way these creatures operate is by putting blood in certain places to make them harder and more solid. This… slasher has had its internal organs removed, how it functions is beyond me. The two blades are bone, and it appears the only way to truly stop these creatures is to bleed them. This one held most of its blood in the arms, I can only assume if we dismember the creatures it will stop them better than aiming for the torso." Data looked at the doctor, his features now emotionless. "Doctor, I noticed when I shot the slasher that it did not dissolve as other organics do. Why is that?" Beverly stood up fully before turning to both the captain and Data. "Well, for that I don't know. But let's keep phaser use to that level, we do not want any of this stuff touching us. If it explodes and we ingest it, I don't know what will happen. But for now, let's make our way towards getting some EV suits, I get the feeling we will need it."

Guinan had a headache. She knew its cause directly though, and it wasn't the marker. Instead it was the woman standing in the middle of Ten-Forward, preaching for lack of a better word. "The Marker is a gift!" She heard the woman shout, a small handful of people listening intently, while the other dozen sat in corners of the room shooting angry glances at the woman they once called Councillor. "Death is not the end, but the beginning of true enlightenment!" The crowd mumbled its approval, clinging desperately to this mad woman. Guinan buried her head in her hands, before making her way to her office, the door now a manual opener. She sat at her desk, and once again put her head in her hands. She felt the darkness emanating from the decks far below, but in all her years of listening she had never heard of anything like this. It made the Borg seem like a children's villain in comparison. She felt as its tendrils spread throughout the ship, knew that more fell under its influence. The bottom nine decks were lost, monstrosities roamed the blackened halls, the lights shattered, crewman massacred and reanimated, the walls beginning to take an organic growth. She sat back, and a tear fell down her face. The ship was silent, and the silence only seemed to grow. In the blackness between stars the Enterprise sat, stuck above a world that should have been impossible to find, cannot exist and held horrors beyond mortal comprehension. Deep within its belly, an insane Crusher walked the halls surrounded by nightmares, beasts stalked those foolish enough to not have retreated to a "safe" area. Doctor Ogawa fell deep into madness, trapped inside an office as a former crewmember slides in the vent. Walls of the ship run red with blood, as three officers make their way to the security office in an attempt to escape. From afar another god watched, a being from an ascended species. "What will you do, Picard" mused Q. "That artifact isn't from this universe. I am most interested in what it will do to those living amongst the mud. Will the mighty Jean-Luc fall?" Even as he mused, a song began to play in the back of his mind.


	6. Chapter 6

Picard studied the now functionless turbolift for quite some time, before finally getting an idea. "Data," he started, "Do you think we can cut through the floor of the lift and make it to a maintenance shaft?" Data walked over before kneeling down next to the captain. "I believe so, the nearest one is two point five meters away and will lead us to ten-forward. From there we can access most of the rest of the ship." Picard nodded. "Make it so. Doctor, be ready. I don't think this creature is the last one on the ship." Beverly looked up from the recently christened "Necromorph" given its name from the two most available visual aspects of the former crewmember. She pocketed her tricorder and stood up to join the two. Data pulled out his phaser and set it to setting eight, enough to make precise cuts in the metal of the ship. Methodically and with the precision only a machine could have, he shot a controlled beam into the bottom of the lift. The sound of shearing metal mixed with the smell of melting duranium filled the noses of the two human bridge members. Finally, the bottom of the lift gave out, replacing the smell of duranium with one of rot and death. The only sound they could hear was the floor falling, hitting walls until it got far enough away that they couldn't hear it at all anymore. But instead of silence, heard the roars of dozens of creatures rising like a chorus out of the pitch black hole.

Worf was not having a good day. He was trapped in main security with maybe a quarter of his staff, down to only fifteen while every other member was either dead or turned by some form of alien contagion. It cost too many men to realize the monsters had to be dismembered. Any higher setting was more dangerous, Worf having to mercy kill a few of his own team that accidentally ingested the decayed particles of flesh. The flying ones were a main concern, but the beast occupying his thoughts was something far bigger far more terrif- "Commander!" one of his security personnel yelled, getting his attention out of the angry stupor it was in. "I just got word, there are survivors in ten-forward!" Worf immediately stood up, visible relief written on his face. "Who confirmed it?" The team parted slightly, showing a frightened woman covered in scratches and bruises. "I came from there, it's bad. The councillor is preaching some form of unification with The Marker, about fifty people now follow her words. I am one of the few who didn't and thought I could make it to security and I would be safe." As if to mock her words, one of the doors into the room shook and dented, sending a huge **BOOM** throughout the room.

"Ghay'cha" muttered Worf under his breath. "Its here. We need to move, NOW!" the security team scrambled quickly, now used to the constant need to regroup and escape through any possible means. The woman screamed, eyes wild. "What is that?" Worf never got a chance to answer as the door punctured on the second hit, sending a chunk of metal into her chest with a spray of gore. A huge arm grabbed onto the door from the inside and pulled, tearing apart a reinforced door not even Data could penetrate with ease. The beast was unlike any of the slashers or "infectors" as the crew called the flying ones. This was much too large, with the biomass of at least three people rather than just one. Its carapace was hardened to withstand heavy damage, even a phaser only seemed to annoy the monster. The inside of the body was still fleshy, with large yellow clusters around the armpit, the only "weak spot" the monster had. It walked on all fours, and had the stance of an ape rather than that of a humanoid. Its face had tendrils where a mouth would be, its eyes a dull white. A large spine like that of old human movie monsters erupted from its back. By the time it walked into the room and roared, it was already too late. Worf closed the door behind him and ran, knowing from experience that the door bought him a second, but no more than that.

The darkness on the bridge was suffocating, but the darkness in the Jeffries tube was claustrophobic. With the howls of the creatures all around, the three were forced to move in absolute silence and without light, in hope that they wouldn't be detected. In the front was Data, his eyes able to function even without light, behind him crawled Beverly, thoughts now dominated on her son, and taking up the rear was Picard, in mourning for his crew and ship. The two saw nothing, hearing only the small breaths of each other and the movements of the android, mixing with the groans of the dead. Without sight the smell was only stronger, a smog of decay and rot. They crawled for what could have been hours or minutes, fear scrambling the mind before Data finally whispered "we are very close to ten-forward. We will be there within a few minutes." As they moved closer and closer, a familiar voice could be heard. "The Marker is not an instrument of death but of enlightenment! Welcome the creatures of the gods, do not despair, for you will see your loved ones in death…" The voice was overtaken by the yells of other living crewmembers, all in uproarious applause. Finally, light could be seen coming from the room down below. With a heavy hit, Data knocked the vent into the room, eliciting screams followed by a collective exhale as he dropped through the ceiling followed by exhales of relief as he quickly dropped to the floor. Following closely behind came out Beverly and Picard, the three facing a crowd of mulling people, with Counselor Troi standing on the bar, Guinan nowhere to be seen. The illumination of the room, already dark before, now held its own kind of terror, the light from below painting shadows on the faces of everyone giving the impression of a secret meeting to plot the deaths of innocents rather than a bar for relaxation and socialization. "Captain!" Troi called out, her face split with a wide smile, distorted by the shadows of her face. "I'm glad to see you still are with us and have not yet joined the others, I was hoping you'd still live." Picard looked around at the crowd, and noticed the fervor that now filled all their eyes. "Deanna, what's the meaning of this?" he asked, using her first name as slight fear crept into his voice. "Captain, I can FEEL The Marker. It's old, and it isn't trying to spread death but love! It is enlightening us in death, unifying us! Once enough of us are in its embrace, finally convergence can be achieved!" The crowd murmured its approval, all swaying slightly. "What exactly is convergence?" asked Beverly, her hand brushing the phaser in her pocket. " **WE WILL BECOME ONE"** The mob chanted, all having said these words hundreds of times in the last hours. " **WE WILL BE MADE WHOLE."** Even Data stepped back at these words, and the three began reaching for their phasers slowly as the mob all turned to face them. The tension was dissipated as the door to ten-forward was opened up, stepping inside a bloodied and battered Worf. Looking at the room, feeling the bloodlust emanating from the mob he stopped as security filed in behind him. "Did I… interrupt?" he asked.

The two groups split up, Troi and her "Unitologists" on one side, Picard and security on the other. "We need to find a way to escape." Worf said, blunt as always. "We cannot stay here, we have been hunted by a beast for the past hour. We can give him the slip, but never for long." Beverly looked over to Troi, once again preaching to her flock. "What I don't understand is how the necromorphs haven't attacked here yet, if it's as widespread as you say." Worf shook his head, looking over to the group noticing how even some in yellow seemed to be listening. "Whatever the reason is, it cannot last. I believe this is now the largest gathering of living beings on the ship, seventy five easy targets cannot be ignored." Data cocked his head to the side. "Guinan appears strangely absent." He commented. "Perhaps we should check her office." Picard's face immediately changed to guilt, in all the excitement he had forgotten to look for the enigmatic bartender. Data, Picard and Worf stood up, before looking at Beverly who still stared at the group of religious zealots. "Beverly?" Picard asked. "I believe I will stay out here. I am going to see if my son is in there, plus I need to understand Jean-Luc. How can the Counselor of all people think that The Marker is the instrument of the divine? If it's affecting them, I need to study it." Picard nodded, as the three made their way to the office of Guinan, and opened the door.

The bartender looked up, her thoughts interrupted by the three as they entered the room and closed the door. "Captain!" she almost yelled in relief, standing up. "You're alive!" Picard raised a hand, before taking a seat followed by Data and Worf. "For the most part. Tell me Guinan, what's happening out there? What's happened to my ship?" Guinan sat back down, a face of sorrow on her face. "I can't speak for either to be honest. I don't know the madness that now infests my bar, but as for The Marker," her face turned to one of fear, her brown face blanching. "It isn't from here Picard." Data frowned. "I know that is a common colloquialism, but how does it apply in this situation?" Guinan chuckled. "The fact you take everything literally is a welcome thing in these times Data. I mean it isn't from this universe. Isnt from a parallel universe. Isn't from the Q. Whatever it is comes from another Prime universe." Data once again looked puzzled, his database never having come across the term. "Prime universe?" Guinan nodded. "It is parallel of sorts, but is completely different. Events were different in that universe, but it exists on its own and has no correlation to ours. Wherever The Marker came from, it's not from here." Worf spoke, his deep voice echoing around the small office. "Can it be destroyed?" Guinan sighed. "I don't know. Maybe. Like I said, this is something this universe should never have seen." They all paused in thought, before they finally noticed. The constant murmur of voices from the bar was gone. It was absolute silence.


	7. Chapter 7

The room was empty. The entirety of ten forward, full of people what felt like minutes ago, was now devoid of human life. The captain walked forward quietly, his ears straining to hear anything, only to be met with nothing. Silence ruled in the room usually so full of sound. Picard turned to Worf, their eyes meeting. "Where could everyone have gone? I could understand one group leaving, but everyone?" Worf looked down at the captain, before shifting his eyes to the door. "It is certainly… peculiar. There are no signs of a struggle, and I cant believe every member would follow Troi." Guinan shook her head as she walked over to the bar. "I've served aboard this ship for many years Picard. I can't explain any of the happenings, even this is beyond my imagination. How does a room full of people simply disappear?" Before any response was given, a faint roar could be heard in the distance, and Worf visibly stepped back. "I don't have an answer for the missing people captain, but we need to move. A beast has been tracking me and the security team for some time, it cannot be stopped by conventional means and appears to have found us." As he finished speaking, other screams could be heard, screams of the living and of the dead.

Beverly crusher was running, fleeing nightmares of flesh and bone and a mob of very angry cultists. How could they not see that The Marker was the cause of the issue, not the solution or a gift? A whole starship was now dead because of some object of worship. They did not want to hear it however, and now Beverly ran from the mob. As she turned a corner, that was when she heard the screaming begin. While the infection was light in the upper decks, only a handful of the slashers, a single surprise attack could wipe out any number of unarmed civilians and crewmembers. " _Beverly"_ she heard faintly, a voice she recognized from long ago. She continued to run, further and further, ducking into jefferies tubes and descending further and further, her desire to destroy the cause of the suffering, and apparent loss of her son driving her on and on. The headache she hid from the captain worsened, as her sense of location and time grew hazier and hazier. " _Beverly_ " She heard again, that voice from long ago. She slowed to a stop, and looked around, noticing the symbol above a nearby door. She stood in front of the open door of the medical ward, somehow having run all the way here, descending decks without any thought, her headache worsening. The only sound coming from within was the dripping of some form of liquid, and the light blue floor now a deep shade of crimson. She stepped through the open door and into the broken room, beds turned over, blood splattering the walls covered in rents where blades sunk in. " _Hear me Beverly_ " she heard the voice, coming nor from nowhere but instead the closed door to her office, locked from the inside. Her desire to destroy The Marker forgotten, she moved forward mechanically. All the fear she felt fell away, as the door dissolved and standing there was a man she would never forget. " _I'm so proud of you Beverly_ " said Jack Crusher, her dead husband. He was exactly as she remembered, except for his eyes. His eyes, usually so kind seemed to glow with a glow coming from within. " _We need to be made whole once more. Make us whole, Beverly._ " She took a step forward, tears flowing down her cheeks. "Yes my love, we will be made who-" She coughed, and looked down. Where her chest usually was, now nothing. A hole the size of a fist had been taken out, severing her spine and splitting her lungs. The scent of cooked meat reached her nose, the smell of a phaser wound. She fell to the ground, her mind falling into darkness as footsteps echoed away.

Worf felt fear once more. It was a relatively unknown emotion to him before, but in the past day he felt as if he was almost comfortable feeling it. The roar echoed again, the sound of the brute getting closer and closer as the group of officers fled through the deck. The screaming had stopped, only to be replaced by the sound of more bestial calls as they rose once more in pursuit of the group. "How do they move from deck to deck so fast?" Guinan asked in fear tinged with annoyance. "It's only been a few hours and yet it feels as if the whole ship has been overrun!" Data turned his head to face her, his pace not letting up as his blueprints of the decks moved him swiftly with the others. "I believe it is due to two reasons. One is the layout of the ship, with turbolifts giving access to every deck, and as it has been seen the Necromorphs can climb." He ran, turning back to face forward to walk around a door that had been torn from the wall and now lay in the hallway. "The second is a mere hypothesis, but I believe that there is a sort of, "Infector" form that travels with the other forms to reanimate the bodies at an incredible speed." Worf nodded, his old habits of battle strategy overcoming the adrenaline of the chase for a brief moment. "It makes sense, and when the fear tactics are taken into account, a whole boarding party could take the ship in the matter of hours. The only reason we live is that the infection took time to start somewhere." With that sobering fact, the group ran once more in silence, surrounded by the screams of the damned.

The monster was floating. Its upper reasoning had long been taken away, replaced only with a bestial hunger. It twitched, its right blade clinking against glass. Its pale eyes opened, and saw its reflection. It was skinless, arms extending out of its shoulder blades and ending fully in blades, rather than sticking out of hands like other slashers. It was bulky, and tall. In place of a lower jaw hung tentacles, quivering slightly as the creature began to move. Off to the side a woman came into the creature's view, a small asian woman wearing a bloodied blue outfit. The creature began to shift as the woman opened and closed her mouth, moving her lips to form shapes. The creature began to thrash slightly, hitting the glass with more and more force. It heard nothing,the liquid it floated in turned brown as the decayed tissue mixed with it. Finally the grass cracked, and in a flash its arms tore through the container and into the woman. She screamed as its blade entered her stomach, blood coming out of her mouth as her lungs filled with blood. It raised its arm, woman struggling as it stabs her with the other arm, and _pulled_. The woman fell apart, her legs and torso falling away from each other as her organs dropped to the floor with a wet _**splat**_. It lifted its head, and air moved past what could pass as olfactory senses, sensing living moving down from decks up above. Three beings of flesh and blood, one of metal and electricity. It moved to the door, and began to make its way towards these beings, slicing through a door and stepping over a headless body with a hole in its chest. It never noticed the blinking name above its birth tank, the word **Hunter** blinking slowly, before fading into darkness.


	8. Chapter 8

The group of survivors made their way down the decks, slowly but surely. Deck by deck, hallways covered with blood as the sounds of screams faded away to be replaced by the growls of the hungry dead. Through the ship they crawled, maggots inside of a dying sea beast. The Enterprise was now no more than a hulk of metal and mass, the ships internals too devastated from the new inhabitants that it was no more than a hunk of duranium floating through the inky blackness. Without the light of a sun, the Enterprise would never see light again. As it floated through the deep darkness, a shift in the planet shook the ship. With a dying gasp heard through the ship to every survivor's ears, the final thrusters died. And with that, the internal compensators finally died as well. Slowly the guts of every survivor was pulled as the ship began its long descent into the planet. The clock was now ticking.

"Commander Data," Picard barked in the darkness, feeling the ship begin to fall. "Give me an estimate, how much time do we have?" He heard the android turn towards him in the darkness of the maintenance shaft, the sound of his cloth moving as his only reference. "Considering the size of the planet and the distance from the Enterprise, three hours sir. At that point the Enterprise will collide with one of the upper spires on the planet, splitting the ship into pieces and killing everything aboard." Picard thought to himself, knowing the other four crewmembers were now listening intently to the decision he now had to make. "We will have to leave Beverly, or hope she gets the same idea as me. Worf, what is our distance to the main shuttlebay? We have to hope that even one of the shuttles is operational." Worf's deep voice filled the maintenance shaft. "It is three decks down, however that is not the main problem we face." His voice paused, and a deep sigh was heard. "The maintenance shafts stop here as we get into the lower portions of the ship. We will have to make our way through the rest of the decks where the necromorphs are." As if to prove his point, a roar reverberated through the tunnel. "We need to move captain. Now." Guinan's voice cried out, the brute now closer to them than ever. The sound of tearing bulkhead could be heard as it destroyed all between them.

As they stepped out into the corridor, the smell of rotting flesh assaulted the group. The carpet was soggy, every step eliciting a small puddle of blood. Turning on the flashlights on their tricorders, the group was greeted by an open door leading to a pitch black room. Above the door was inscribed the word, _Infirmary_. A faint dripping could be heard inside, but the group moved on, the sounds of tearing once again reaching their ears. The floor lights were almost entirely functionless, broken in some places by the monsters roaming the decks or covered with a layer of dead meat and blood. Alien limbs littered the hallway, as well as human tinting the ground a multitude of colors. Moans could be heard in the distance, along with the distant sound of wings. The walls were covered with a fleshy substance, almost symbolizing the corruption here. They were no longer in the still visually human upper decks, and instead was now in the rotting innards of the beast. The group moved quietly, listening intently whenever a scuttling could be heard in the shafts, moving to different parts of the ship. In some rooms tentacles from the walls moved lazily, the shadows of bodies being their starting points. Only with Data's pinpoint accuracy did they move relatively unnoticed. But as they moved towards the next jefferies tube, the sound of shorn metal filled the corridor, as the brute finally caught up.

"Worf, what the hell is that?" Guinan yelled retreating, the five opening fire into the armored hide of the beast. "Guinan, at this moment it really doesn't matter. Just shoot the damn thing!" Picard swore at her. "Data, is there any alternate route?" As he asked, roars filled the corridor as lurching horrors began to emerge from every darkened doorway and shaft, beginning to stumble towards the group. "No captain, but I do see one way to get out of this." Data's voice was methodical, even in this situation when phasers began to fire and eviscerate wildly. The brute began to charge toward the group, loping as if an ape, its skin absorbing all fire put its way. "When I say go, make a run for the tube. Start moving and don't look back!" Data yelled now to be heard over the phasers and the roars of the horde moving on them. At the head of the slashers stood a much larger slasher, one that had full blade arms rather than any hands, skinless and raw. Every phaser hit only seemed to slow it down, and at any point it seemed to regrow limbs that were completely severed. Data turned away from the horde and towards the oncoming brute, and with practiced precision, put a phaser blast through its eye. "GO!" he yelled, the only real emotion Picard or any of the others had ever heard. Almost immediately the armored hulk smashed into him, and in its rage barreled through the large horde, sending limbs and gore everywhere, carrying the body of data with it into the darkness. Faced with no other choice, the group complied, entering the tube and closing it behind them. Right before the door closed, the sight of muscle and bone reknitting was seen, as the hunter began to stir and rise once more.

Four survivors dashed through the jefferies tube as fast as they could. In the inky blackness, none able to turn on the tricorder flashlight, the noise of the cover they closed being torn open was only amplified, as was the noise of the monster scuttling close behind, the hunter moving with inhuman speed. As they desperately made their way to the next corridor, Worf simply battered the next cover open, the group scrambling to make it out. Worf was the first out, reaching behind and grabbing Picard forcefully. Pulling him out, he reached his hand to Guinan, her eyes, usually full of wisdom, now wide eyed and full of panic. The lights in the corridor made her normal calm face look like that of a wraith, a haunted ghost of Earth's myths. As she opened her eyes to yell, blood coughed out of her mouth as the blade of the creature pierced her stomach, the small spines in the blades catching her as it pulled her back into the pitch black tube. Without a scream, Guinan was gone.

"WE HAVE TO MOVE CAPTAIN!" Worf yelled, standing and bringing Picard to his feet. Already the sounds of another horde began to move, dozens of broken feet beginning to shuffle out and hunt the now living prey. "But Guinan…" Picard started. "She's gone captain. We need to descend one more level, we're almost there!" With that, the two began to sprint. Stealth was no longer an option, as monsters erupted from the walls. The two ran, shooting wildly with no hope of aim, only hoping to stall the monsters for even a moment. The walls were now fully covered with the fleshy growths, the lights, covered in dried fluids, painting everything a sickly yellow. Teeth gnashed and blades swung as the two dodged and shot. The two managed to run past the entangled horde, the corpses falling over each other as legs were luckily detached and arms falling to trip others. As the two made it to the final tube, a roar reverberated through the crowd as bodies began to explode from the pressure as the brute ran through, followed by more slashers and the hunter. Again, Worf and the captain were put into utter darkness, and once more the sound of pursuit weighed heavily on their ears.

The shuttle bay was silent. Being so close to the initial infestation, the room remained mostly unmolested. As the ship began its fall, the contents of the room except for the heavy shuttles began to move and slid, moving slowly towards the left side of the room. The silent room became still once more, only minutes later becoming filled with noise. "MOVE MOVE MOVE MOVE!" yelled Picard as in came in full sprint, followed by Worf. Screams and moans came after, as a shambling mass of decayed flesh and bone followed close behind, led by a hulking one-eyed monster, its front now embedded with medal and the synthetic flesh of an android. The two moved on to the nearest shuttle, the door miraculously opening and closing behind them, evidently whatever power failure affecting the rest of the ship had not killed the engines of the small craft. Within moments, with years of training and experience, Picard punched the buttons on the control panel and started the engines. Mere seconds later, the first hit smashed into the shuttle, sliding it and making the cockpit no longer face the door of the Enterprise. "Captain…" warned Worf, his voice cracking with fear. "I have it under control, prepare for a rough takeoff." Was Picard's response. With what felt like agonizing slowness, the craft rose ponderously, the howls of the horde now filling the room as the shuttle turned towards the door, and fired its weapons. Without the aid of shielding, the door crumpled like wet paper, depressurising the room and sucking out all its contents save the other shuttle. The brute swung wildly in the air, vaporizing a few of the slashers in its rage as it exited the ship, and began its own descent into the atmosphere. The hunter clawed desperately at the shuttle, cutting gouges into the metal before it too fell towards the impossible planet. And with that, the shuttle moved past the doors and into the deep void. The hanger was once again silent, the vacuum of space allowing no noise. The darkness of the room was illuminated by an engine as the other shuttles lights turned on, and silently followed out the destroyed door into the void.

Deep in the innards of that dead ship, a boy driven by insanity ran. Young Wesley ran from the nightmares of flesh and of spirit, his father following his every footstep, the bearded visage of Riker's throatless corpse seemed to be in every shadow. He ran from room to room, each imparting a horror that seemed to swallow him into the darkest reaches of his mind. His uniform was torn, the words " _Make us whole_ " scratched in with his fingernails, now gone from the endless scratching. His legs were tattered, falling innumerable times and standing to run once more. He ran, until he came across The Marker. Somehow he had made his way up the decks to the obelisk, the object that started it all. He looked upon its terrible majesty, and he cried. His mind, fractured. He sunk to his knees, his head in his palms. He cried for a long time, feeling the pull of the planet as the Enterprise moved closer and closer. Looking up, he saw the face of his mother, as beautiful as he remembered her. Shakily, he reached out and grabbed it, bringing the image to his chest. He never felt the tendrils coming out of the stump of her neck. He never felt them as they wrapped around his own, brutally decapitating him as they squeezed together. He never felt them enter his own neck, stabbing into his bodies spine as the head squeezed into his body, red hair now flowing down his back as if it was her body. His head fell to the floor as the body shakily stood, Beverly's head, her face slack upon her son's body.

Q watched the Enterprise, he saw the two shuttles leave, and he saw the ship smash into the planet. The size of the ship smashed through the upper spires of the planet, leaving a multi-kilometer long gash in the already massive planet. The ship came to a stop finally, as the second shuttle watched along with him. It placed a distress beacon aboard the planet before finally leaving. Q chuckled to himself, the planet was a mystery to be sure. Given its trajectory, the planet would eventually find itself in Dominion space. "What an interesting choice Picard. To leave the ship without Beverly or Troi. But, you took care of the threat. The Marker is destroyed. Even we don't know where it came from." He chuckled to himself, something he was very used to. "No matter anyway of course, nothing can affect those in the Q continuum." His attention shifted as he once again returned to the continuum. Even as he said it, the music of The Marker began to play. After all, it was a piece of knowledge the omnipotent Q had never seen. He returned, his thoughts on The Marker, and its construction. "Perhaps its power could be enhanced, and the drawbacks eliminated." He mused, the double helix design never far from his thoughts.

Troi sat back, and smiled. She pressed a few buttons, and the message was sent. It was sent to all the small technologically repressed Empires in the Sector. The Bajorans, the Remans, Cardassians, Ferengi, Orion, Breen, and countless more. She laughed to herself in the shuttle as she plot her way back to Betazed. Her work was not yet done, even as The Marker lay destroyed. But God moved in mysterious ways, and even as one tool was destroyed countless more would take its place. She looked behind her, at the unconscious form of Geordi laying in the shuttlecraft, a machine hooked up to his head, a spike penetrating his skull and reaching the brain. His vitals were steady, his breathing deep. The blueprints to The Marker had been scanned, and sent all across the galaxy, a copy of which now being the last remaining file on the broken Enterprise down below. She looked at her screen once more. Yes, there was much work still left to do.


	9. Authors Note

**Hello all. As I'm sure many of you could tell, mostly from the fact that this is the only story currently available, but this is my first written story. I've written in my free time, but nothing ever like this. I had a writing guide and everything, clearly this had more effort in it than anything else I've written. But, I digress.**

 **This particular story is done, but this will not be the end of the entire story. I'd like to write more about this mish-mash of universe I've… "Created" and a cliffhanger like that would be brutal for me to just go "Yup, good enough." Besides, with the Star trek universe being so large, it gives almost limitless potential with this crossover, and that's almost the problem. I have no idea where to go from here. Should I continue with this idea of isolated, small scale outbreak, or should I start going into larger galactic/sector wide conflict? I intend to do both, but when it comes to which one first that remains unclear. Honestly, if anyone has any ideas with story, or any suggestions or general requests, PM me. I'm not famous at all, having maybe five or so dedicated readers, so I will take a look at anything you have to say. And review my story, please. I disliked my pacing personally, it felt as if it went by too quickly for my case, and someone actually said the same thing. If you see ways to improve my writing, even if you're reading this years from now, leave a review. I always want to improve so that my stories can carry more "oomph."**

 **In addition to this however, I will not just be sticking to the Star Trek/Dead Space crossover. I plan on writing more stories, maybe a more basic action one next. The Halo universe has always fascinated me, the lore is honestly so amazingly over the top if you look at it objectively that I can see some fun stories there. I'm not sure what my next story will be, and with college and work eating much of my life I'll do my best to write. Within the next two weeks I'll have a new chapter one up, and within every seven days a new chapter. I can't do nightly like I could at the beginning sadly. But until then, thank you for reading my horribly written nightmare of a story. I hope I spooked you even slightly, I tried not to use the word "blood" too much.**

 **Cheers.**


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